Summary
Contents
Subject index
Geographic information systems (GIS) have become increasingly important in helping us understand complex social, economic, and natural dynamics where spatial components play a key role. The critical algorithms used in GIS, however, are notoriously difficult to both teach and understand, in part due to the lack of a coherent representation. GIS Algorithms attempts to address this problem by combining rigorous formal language with example case studies and student exercises. Using Python code throughout, Xiao breaks the subject down into three fundamental areas: • Geometric Algorithms • Spatial Indexing • Spatial Analysis and Modelling With its comprehensive coverage of the many algorithms involved, GIS Algorithms is a key new textbook in this complex and critical area of geography.
Introduction
Introduction
Algorithms1 are designed to solve computational problems. In general, an algorithm is a process that contains a set of well designed steps for calculation. For example, to correctly calculate the sum of 18 and 19, one must know how to deal with the fact that 8 plus 9 is more than 10, though different cultures have different ways of processing that. Even for a simple problem like this, we expect that the steps used can help us get the answer quickly and correctly. There are many problems that are more difficult than the simple problem of addition, and solving these problems, again efficiently and correctly, requires more careful design of the computational steps.
In GIS development and applications, algorithms are important in almost every ...
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